


A Night in the Town

by Straccia_Tella



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galaxy Garrison, Garrison trio, Gen, and hunk makes sure to rag on lance whenever he gets, i use 'they' and 'them' for Pidge since this is before she's revealed to be a girl, lance is the enabler and hunk is trying to be the mature one, lance nearly gets them caught, pidge tries to fit into a claw machine, the trio get into shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 19:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14087595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straccia_Tella/pseuds/Straccia_Tella
Summary: “I get bored too,” Pidge shrugged. “Besides, I can help you by hacking into the system to get you clearance, which sounds exhilarating compared to my homework.”Lance leaned back and gave a triumphant smirk, “How the tables have turned.”Hunk shook his head and wagged his fingers in time with each “no” he uttered.“No. No, no, no, no, no. You are not going drag me into this, and that’s final!”





	A Night in the Town

Eating in the cafeteria should have been a relaxing period for the Garrison students, but for Lance, Hunk and Pidge they made it the perfect time for arguing.

“I’m telling you, I had everything under control!” Lance grumbled, hoping to garner some sympathy from his crewmates.

“You completely ignored our warnings and practically wrecked the simulator. But sure, totally in your control.” Pidge replied with a rise of an eyebrow.

“And Commander Iverson gave us another lecture because of that. Do you know how scary that guy is when he’s mad?” Hunk asked, his body shivered at the thought.

“Yes Hunk, we were there,” Lance sighed, moving his vegetables around with a fork to try and form a frowny face on his tray.

There should be some way he could lighten the mood around his friends. Maybe they could have a movie night? Nope, already seen all the movies they had. A slumber party? Nuh-uh, he’d have to change the bathroom schedule. Video-game night? No way, Pidge was keeping score of who won what so the losers would have to buy whatever drinks or snacks the winner wanted afterwards. What could they do that would be exciting, and allow them to bond more? A wide grin crossed his face, and he had an idea.

“You know what this calls for?” Lance asked mischievously.

“Lance, whatever you’re thinking of, I’m totally against it,” Hunk interjected, holding his hand up to stop his friend from talking further. “The voice of reason has spoken.”

“You didn’t even hear what I was gonna say!”

“I don’t need to, because I know it’ll end up with us in trouble, and then getting an earful from the principal! I think I’ve seen their office more than any other student in the entire Garrison!” Hunk stabbed his spoon accusingly at Lance as his voice cracked with stress.

“Shhh, would you two keep it down?” Pidge hissed as heads turned towards their table, wondering what the commotion was about. “I’m with Hunk. We’ve gotten into enough trouble for today, and I’m not keen on stretching that out any further.”

“Oh, come on,” Lance begged. “It’ll be one little stroll into the nearby town for shopping, getting better food than this cafeteria stuff, and maybe, just maybe, we can find some lovely ladies?”

          His friends pretended to not hear.

“Guys, please. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Back in the simulator where it crashed,” Pidge responded, typing furiously at their keyboard and leaving their tray untouched. “Besides, I’m busy later.”

Hunk nodded in approval, “It’s settled. Two out of three. We agree it’s a bad idea.”

“Think of it as a team-bonding exercise! How else are we gonna improve?”

“No,” Was the resounding answer.

Hunk went back to finishing his lunch while Pidge’s glasses reflected lines of code coming from their screen. That would have been the end of that, but Lance wasn’t done.

“Pidge? I heard from someone that there was a store that still sells those retro games you talk about so much. Just thought you’d want to know.”

Pidge’s typing came to a halt, finally averting their gaze from the captivating screen. Their face scrunched up as they looked Lance in the eye.

“You paying?”

“Yup. We leave at eight o’clock sharp, right when curfew starts.”

“Turns out I’m not that busy tonight. I’m in.” Pidge replied, closing their laptop with a click.

Hunk nearly choked when he turned to look at the youngest in their group.

“Pidge, seriously?”

“I get bored too,” Pidge shrugged. “Besides, I can help you by hacking into the system to get you clearance, which sounds exhilarating compared to my homework.”

Lance leaned back and gave a triumphant smirk, “How the tables have turned.”

Hunk shook his head and wagged his fingers in time with each “no” he uttered.

“No. No, no, no, no, **_no_**. You are _not_ going drag me into this, and that’s _final_!”

__________________

“I can’t _believe_ you two dragged me into this.” Hunk exhaled, as his fingers kneaded his temples aggressively.

He leaned over the counter as the smell of hamburgers wafted around the diner and an old jukebox played faint jazz music. He had just finished his meal, but for some reason it wasn’t sitting well in his stomach.

“Relax, man. We’ll finish eating, get what we came for, and be back in our dorms before you know it.” Lance said in between bites of his hamburger and offered Hunk a fry. “Just an hour, I promise.”

“That’s what you said after spending ten minutes flirting with those girls, while leaving me and Pidge in that hardware store.” Hunk sat up and crossed his arms, “Just so we’re clear, I was against this whole idea. Only reason I came was to make sure you two stay out of trouble.”

“So far we’ve been doing well. I’m impressed Lance managed to sneak us passed patrol. That takes a lot of skill,” Pidge noted, giving him an appreciative look.

“What can I say? It’s my special talent.” Lance said, puffing his chest out in pride.

Pidge took a sip of their soda. “So where’s the store with the video games?”

“Hey look, they have an arcade!” Lance said, excitedly pointing a finger at a nearby shop with bright lights beaming into the dark streets. “Let’s go there!”

          “Uh, weren’t you going to get Pidge a game? The arcade can wait.” Hunk was a man of his word, and the best way to keep his friends out of trouble would be to stay on track.

“I’ve actually never been to an arcade before.” Pidge admitted and frowned at the expression their friends made. “What? My family and I didn’t go out that much.”

“Hunk! We _have_ to go to the arcade now!” Lance pleaded.

“Fine, one play. After that, you buy the game for Pidge, and then we skedaddle.”

Lance paid for dinner and they made a mad dash to the arcade. Once inside, all around them were a myriad options that beckoned them to empty their pockets into the brightly lit boxes. By the time they got to the claw machine they had messed around in the photo booth, played a zombie shooter, watched Lance nearly slip on Dance Dance, and even took turns on a racing game while cheering each other on.

“Okay, I admit, this is kinda nice once in awhile,” Hunk laughed as he stared wistfully at a rhythm game in the distance.

Pidge adjusted their glasses as they eyed the two claw machines. One was nearly overflowing with fluffy stuffed animals, and the other had tempting hand-held video game consoles that was _definitely_ there to taunt players.

“I wonder how people manage to win these things.”

“There’s a trick my brother taught me for this,” Lance smiled as he walked over to the one with the stuffed animals, inserted a coin and cracked his knuckles. “Watch and learn.”

He tried to go for a stuffed shark as carefully as he could but when it looked like the claw caught, the prize slipped out with a faint squeak.

“What the cheese? I _had_ that!” Lance banged his fist on the casing in outrage.

          “Dude, it’s all about the mechanics,” Hunk gestured to the machine. “The claws are programmed with certain strengths and speeds. Once in awhile it’ll give you full power to win a prize, but it’s mostly weak enough so you keep losing.”

           Lance let his forehead rest against the casing and groaned, “Life is _so_ unfair…”

           “Most of these games are rigged,” Pidge pointed out.

“Do you think they’ll notice if I make some tweaks? You know, hypothetically speaking.” Hunk glanced at the side of the machine where he could easily spy the panel.

“I wouldn’t risk it,” Pidge admitted, holding their chin thoughtfully as they scrutinized the game.

They stared at the slot where the prizes were dropped and looked at their friends with the utmost sincerity.

“I can’t hack into this… but I _can_ probably fit if I try hard enough."

Lance and Hunk quickly sized Pidge up.

“If you can be quick about it,” Hunk shrugged.

“I’ll keep watch,” Lance added.

__________________

Looking back, they probably should have given up, gotten the video game and called it a night. Stubbornness was a trait the trio shared.

Long story short, the minute one of the employees found them, no amount of distractions Lance threw at them would allow Hunk the time to pull Pidge (who was slightly stuck) out of the slot and slip away. So when they were angrily asked about their parents and where they were from, they calmly gathered themselves and high-tailed out of the place.

After dodging some security guards, accidentally bumping into other shoppers, they made a bee-line towards a pile of rubble on the outskirts of the town and ducked behind it. Pidge was rubbing their shoulder and grinning smugly with a stuffed frog in their arms. Hunk was trying to calm himself down as Lance caught his breath.

“Whoo, what a night,” Lance laughed.

Pidge and Lance heard a slap sound as they saw Hunk’s silhouette slowly slide down against the rocks with his hand resting against his forehead.

“We didn’t get the video game…” Hunk breathed. “We _completely_ forgot about it.”

          Lance felt his stomach drop as Pidge spoke up.

“We got _something_ out of this trip. I found more hardware, and snagged a new friend when that employee wasn’t looking. I’m not exactly fond of frogs, but this guy’s kind of cute.”

“Yeah, and you can name it “bad idea”. ‘Cause you know what, Lance? _This_ , was a bad idea!” Hunk pointed out. “What would have happened if they caught us?”

“But we didn’t get caught, that’s what’s important! Think about it, we all worked together to make a daring escape. The purpose of this trip was for us to bond more, and I’d say it was a success!” Lance pumped his arms up in victory..

Hunk rubbed his eyes. “Pidge, what’s the time?”

Pidge tapped at their phones see through orange screen, “Twenty-two, nineteen.”

“You said an _hour_.” Hunk hoped Lance could see his irritated expression.

          “So we had some fun and got side-tracked, it happens. Let’s just focus on getting back safely, sneaking into our dorms, and then we sleep it off.”

          “Sleep…” Hunk yawned. “That’s a plan I could live with.”

__________________

          Returning the Garrison was a cinch, now all they had to worry about was returning to their rooms unnoticed. Lance led his friends through each turn, pausing every now and then to listen for footsteps.

          “Great, there are more guards on patrol!” Hunk bemoaned.

          Lance waved a hand at Hunk, eyeing the corner of the hallway and then motioning for his friends to follow. They ducked below some windows and began to crawl, leading Lance to look back and whisper to Pidge.

          “Sorry about not getting you that game, Pidge,” Lance apologized, and Pidge gave a shoulder shrug.

          “It’s fine. I actually had fun running around with you guys. But do _not_ make this a regular thing.”

          “I hope not, I don’t think my heart can take any more of these trips. All I want now is to be back in my room, safe and sound.” Hunk muttered, grabbing his shirt for emphasis.

          They made it to Pidge’s dorm, which meant Hunk and Lance had to make sure their friend made it safely inside before leaving.

    “You ever wonder why Pidge’s room is so far from ours?” Lance whispered to Hunk who seemed too tired to even comment on it.

After minutes of more sneaking around, they finally arrived at their destination. Lance made one final sweep of the halls before hitting the touchpad to their room and slipping inside.

Everything was exactly how they left it; beds slightly unkempt, papers lying on their desk, and their uniforms neatly hung. Lance called dibs on the bathroom to Hunk’s annoyance, but as soon as they changed they were ready to pass out.

          “I can’t believe how much fun that was. I’m getting it on video next time!” Lance said.

He casually tossed the pictures they took in the photo booth onto his desk, and slipped into bed. Hunk groaned as he flopped onto the bed on his side of the room.

          “What, you didn’t have fun?” Lance asked.

          “It’s not that,” Hunk replied, his voice slightly muffled by the pillows. “We could have gotten into so much trouble for “team bonding” as you called it. Why do I let you talk me into these things?”

          “Dude, a little adventures worth all the trips to the principal’s office. Once we start exploring space, you’ll need to be used to all the fun we’ll have.”

          The room was silent for a minute, and Lance wondered if Hunk had fallen asleep.

“Can you at least promise me that this will be the last time? We’ve gotten lucky so far, but I don’t know how much longer it’ll last.” Hunk rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling of their dorm.

Lance grinned as he pulled his eye mask on, already imagining their next trip.

“Wouldn’t count on it, big guy. There’s something out there waiting for us, I can feel it.”

          A month had passed since their adventure, but it was certainly not their last.

**Author's Note:**

> A story I wrote for a Voltron zine called "Space Cadets", a zine that focused on the Garrison Trio specifically. I really enjoyed writing and since this was my first zine, I was really proud of it.


End file.
